Siu
by dawnsama
Summary: Siu: Cantonese for little, small, or slight. Short ficlets and drabbles, all unrelated and self contained. Contains pairings of all shapes and sizes.
1. Plea

A/n – This is really just to post the Inuyasha request or challenge ficlets I write. Updates will be random and whenever I feel like it.

Written for: Purple Uranium (eternaltempress at lj) 6/6/05

Pairing: NarakuSango

Word Count: 125

**Plea**

She lay there, flesh corpselike on the ground, alone and separated from her companions.

Her brother clawed at his hand, trying to snatch away the shining piece of purity and corruption he clutched, silently begging for his mercy. But Naraku stood firm.

Her eyes opened, and he watched the invisible essence of living begin to ebb away.

"I am tired," Sango murmured hopelessly, "enough of this."

Staring at the plaguing blackness of her eyes, Naraku made a decision.

"I can help," Naraku said in his own magnanimity, "But in return, I want…"

And then Kohaku began to plead to his sister, but nothing he tried to say or do stopped her from opening her back as Naraku placed the corruption into her, making her his.


	2. Dissimilarity

For: Numisma, 6/6/05

Pairing: Naraku/young!Kaede

Word Count: 130

**Dissimilarity**

Naraku curls into his bit of shadows, watching the young miko as the day wore on.

He thinks darkly that she doesn't move like Kikyou did as she trips over a stone, that she doesn't act like Kikyou did as she pulls back her bow to catch game for a village orphan, but hesitates before shooting the fleeing animal, missing and not killing it, and that she doesn't look like Kikyou did with her eye patch unbalancing, twisting her face. But he doesn't hate it, for Kikyou with her movements, acts, and looks rejected him after all.

Naraku whisks out a tendril of shadows at Kaede, brushing lightly against her eyes, and as she turns to look at him, he leers glowingly and draws the shadows around him once again.


	3. Methods of Drinking

For: iyficcontest at lj, Week 17 theme: "Breathing" (I didn't win though. Oh well.)

Fandom: Inuyasha

Pairing: none really, just Naraku/young!Kaede interaction

Word Count: 611

**Methods of Drinking**

Naraku felt strangely glum at the moment.

He drew no pleasure out of poking holes into a small animal with his fingernails, not even when it writhed and bled him small drops red to drink. A small part of him longed to lap up the little spots of redness, wanted to run a tongue up and down along the underside of its snow white fur as it dripped out. Another thought it unfitting that the blood had left the body, claiming it too dirty to imbibe, and suggested sucking it directly out of the animal while it was still wiggling.

But then there was that other part, the part that stuck up its hypothetical nose at taking in blood only in drops. It told him to slash apart the animal and drink its blood by the palm full, for that was the proper way to absorb another's body fluids.

Watching her as she began to shoot at a tree, fingering the small, limp corpse of the unfortunate animal, Naraku wondered vaguely what method of drinking his miko's younger sister would suggest.

To catch the sister's attention, just as she released the bow and sent the arrow soaring across, with a precision he grown proud of, Naraku hurled the animal corpse into the clearing and straight into the path of the arrow.

As he stepped out of the shadows, Naraku admired the way the blood droplets splashed quietly onto the grass and the way it splattered onto the bark of the tree as the arrow pinned it to the trunk. The way the arrow burrowed into the animal's flesh fascinated him, but not so much as the way Kaede looked at him with that dark, single eye of hers.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, swinging up another arrow at him.

Naraku thought the fear in her eye delightful, and he smiled giddily at her as he came closer.

"Not to worry, little miko," he said reassuringly. When she refused to lower her bow, he continued, "Oh, I don't want a thing from you, not today at least, I just have a question."

"Ask it and leave."

Still smiling, Naraku held up his bloody palm and held it out to her. "How do you drink? Speak clearly now, little miko, for I am hanging on every word you're saying."

The fear in her eyes was still present, but it had become quiet. "I haven't said anything yet," she mumbled. "And I do not understand your question."

"How," Naraku repeated, "do you drink? Specifically, how would you approach a drink that would give you life and sustenance? By the drop, or the cup?"

Kaede rested her eye on the drying blood on his hands and then turned to look at the animal pinned to the tree by an arrow, its white fur splattered with coppery red.

"I would take that drink," she began, "and give it to somebody in a state of death, for he would need it more than I would. It matters not if he takes it in drops or cups, so long as he drinks it."

Naraku narrowed his eyes, smile dropping. "Foolish little miko," he spat. "Even your own beloved sister didn't follow that drivel. She refused to give drinks to men in death, I would know."

And with that, he whirled around and stalked away from the little miko, making sure to tear the small animal off the tree. Before he left completely, Naraku turned to her and ripped at the animal's flesh with his teeth, making sure that the little miko saw every bite. He only disappeared from view when she raised her bow and arrow.


	4. When He Doesn't Kill

For the iyfic(underscore)challenge lj community, week #21- "gift" – written 6/21/05

Pairing: none

Word Count: 232

**When He Doesn't Kill**

At the moment, Sesshoumaru felt like killing something, but the only things his location provided him were butterflies and birds, and it frustrated him to no end. He hadn't killed anything since that wild boar the night before, but that was only because Rin needed something to eat.

Rin didn't seem hungry anyway. Sesshoumaru turned his head away from the forest trees and silently observed the girl as she gleefully jumped about between the tall blades of grass, plucking flowers and weeds alike as she passed them.

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes for a moment, remembering a time when he could kill regardless of his location; however, this line of thought only disgruntled him, since he had tried to kill his half-brother and lost an arm for nothing in exchange for the attempt.

He continued to remember, and recalled that something had led Rin to him, and then killing had become difficult and life more frustrating.

Sesshoumaru wasn't sure if he had received a blessing or a curse.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!"

Opening his eyes, he looked down at her smiling face and the flowers clenched in her hands.

Rin giggled and held out her bouquet to him.

He stared blankly for a moment, and then accepted it, blinking at the widening of her grin.

"Thank you," he mumbled, and Sesshoumaru decided that no matter the manner of it was, he had still received something precious.


	5. The Weight on My Back

For: iyfic(underscore)challenge at lj, week #22- "strength" theme

Pairing: none

Word count: 300

Notes: This drabble won Mod's Choice. I know I feel special.

Summary: Think the two-legged people got it bad? Keep thinking that.

**The Weight on My Back**

I understand that Kouga and Miroku are bleeding all over the place at this moment, and that they need medical attention. I see that they are both unconscious and that it's not Inuyasha's fault if the way he swings them over my back is a bit rough, since they can't get on themselves and Inuyasha isn't exactly at his full strength at the moment. So I don't mind carrying Kouga and Miroku.

But really! Why do I have to carry Sango _and _Kagome as well? That's four people on my back. Count 'em: _four people_. Do you really think I have the stamina to carry _four people _all the way back to the village? It'd already be a stretch if only one of you came on; I'm used to carrying _two _people, after all, and Kouga's not exactly petite, you know. And… Shippou too?

It's nice that you have faith in my strength and all, but this is just unrealistic. Okay, maybe I _can _handle four people on my back (and Shippou, but does he really count?), but not _now, _understand. I'm kind of tired too, you know! It's not as if you two-legged people were the only ones fighting. My energy can only hold out for so long.

I have the solution! Yes, Inuyasha, I can see that gash on your thigh. But your arms are fine. You can still carry Kagome like you usually do, right? You always seem to enjoy it anyway. Go on, just pick her up. Sango will be fine with me…

Kagome, why are you still on my back, settling Shippou on your shoulder even? I thought I told you to go to Inuyasha…

Okay, Sango, I can feel your nudge. I'm going. I guess my strength at the moment will do for now.


	6. Tricksters

For: iyficchallenge at lj, week #23 – "Magic" theme – 7/14/05

Pairing: none

Word Count: 290

Notes: This won third place!

Summary: Post-Naraku. Implied character deaths. Kagome doesn't trust magicians.

**Tricksters**

At first, Kagome doesn't think it worthwhile, but after a moment of Souta's pout, she relents and allows him to drag her over to a flashy street magician in front of a toy store. Tipping his hat, the magician holds out his long-sleeved arm to Souta.

"Pull this string I'm holding here."

Kagome closes her eyes as Souta rushes forward to do as the street magician says, opening her eyes as Souta begins to pull out scarf after scarf from the magician's closed fist.

Souta is still laughing as they walk away from the magician, and Kagome nods and pretends to listen as he exclaims over the amazing miracle of creating scarves from nothing. She does not have the heart to tell him the secret of the magic trick, that the magician had only hid the scarves up his sleeve.

Idly following Souta as he browses the toy shop, Kagome thinks that it would have been nice if somebody had told her the secret of Naraku's trick before they had pulled the string and let loose his scarves at them. Perhaps they might have been happy if she had realized that Naraku had only been tricking them, like the way a magician tricks his audience into believing that his magic is real. Perhaps she wouldn't have been the only one left if she had done something instead of been tricked.

And Kagome continues with her perhaps's, knowing but refusing to acknowledge that she is only tricking herself.

As they exit the toy shop with their purchases, Kagome concludes that she doesn't know if there is true magic in the world, but she does know that there are many types of trickery and that she will never believe in magicians again.


	7. Anything

For: iyfic(underscore)challenge – Week #24 – "Loyalty" (7/19/05)

Pairing: could be seen as Jaken Sesshoumaru I guess…

Word Count: 272

Summary: What Jaken would do for Sesshoumaru…

**Anything**

Jaken thought it was pretty accurate to say that he would do anything for Sesshoumaru-sama. From the moment he walked gracefully and impressively into his life, Jaken had found that anything Sesshoumaru-sama did was Right and that anything he said was to be Followed Without Question. Obviously, Sesshoumaru-sama needed neither questions nor excuses; he only needed his subjects to obey his Every Word.

And Jaken was happy to do that.

Therefore, Jaken didn't mind jumping in front of the poison that shot toward Sesshoumaru-sama that some foolish youkai spat out to show that he was powerful enough to challenge The Great Sesshoumaru, or so he thought. Sesshoumaru-sama merely made a vague, slash-like gesture in its general direction and the youkai exploded anyway, and Jaken felt proud that his quick actions had given Sesshoumaru-sama the opportunity to take care of the troublesome youkai with one move.

As he lay on the ground and felt the poison taking over, Jaken found that dying for his Master was proving to be one of the most fulfilling accomplishments of his life. It didn't even matter that the blood in his chest was starting to fizz and sting and that he couldn't feel his hands anymore. Certainly the fact that he was suffering intense pain was of no importance. Jaken didn't mind it at all, for if he was suffering for Sesshoumaru-sama, then it was worth it.

Sadly, Jaken said good-bye to Sesshoumaru-sama and Rin and the world, and silently cherished that the last thing he saw was of Sesshoumaru-sama standing over him and drawing the Tenseiga, looking strong and invincible like the youkai he was.


	8. If He's Needed

For: iyficchallenge – Week #25- "courage"

Pairing: none

Word Count: 288

Summary: You can always count on Myouga.

**If He's Needed**

Myouga wasn't sure if he wanted to go through with it. After all, there were many scary things out there in the world, things he was sure would do their best to squish or deflate his little body should he happen to encounter them. But Myouga knew that Inuyasha-sama depended on him, even if he never actually said so and kept denying it whenever Myouga brought up the subject, and for this, Myouga decided to swallow his fears.

He took a breath and prepared himself to do his duty.

vvvvv

Just as he was about to send the currently attacking youkai into oblivion, Inuyasha lowered his sword arm to slap at his neck.

"Go away Myouga!" Inuyasha yelled at the squished blob on his palm. "Can't you see I'm busy!"

"Inuyasha-sama!" Myouga called. "I'm so glad to see you! I braved so many terrors and dangers to reach you. Even now, I am perfectly in danger, yet I told myself, 'Inuyasha-sama needs me!' And so I came, despite the terrors and the life-threatening dangers!"

"What do you want?"

"I am here to—"

"Let me take care of this youkai first…" Inuyasha's eyes widened. "Where did the youkai go? You distracted me!"

"You lost the youkai? Allow me to assist you in finding it Inuyasha-sama!"

"No! Crap!"

"Oh good, the youkai just moved behind you! Good thing you had me here with you!"

vvvvv

Even, Myouga reflected later, if Inuyasha-sama didn't voice his appreciation of Myouga's courage, the attacking youkai was quite fearsome in his opinion, at least he proved that he could go into the face of danger if he ever was needed, which hopefully wouldn't be often. One day's worth of courage was enough for him.


	9. The Second Mouth

For: iyficchallenge Week 26 drabble "food"  
Word Count: 269

Summary: The Kazaana is not a picky eater.

**The Second Mouth**

Although Miroku likes food very much, especially those of fine quality and taste, he detests his second mouth, that cursed hole in his hand. He thinks, one morning, that he would love nothing more than to starve his second mouth until it shrinks and dwindles away. But it doesn't make this easy for Miroku, and as he lives on, Miroku develops a grudging appreciation for the vast array of food making up its appetite.

Whether or not its food breathes and bleeds makes no difference to it; the Kazaana will eat it all, for, unfortunately, it is not picky in the least. Whatever Miroku lets it loose on, youkai, human, animal, anything will do, it slurps it up with wind as its tongue, gulping pieces and bodies greedily and forcing them through a hole, a hole they could not possibly fit through but do anyway, into darkness and unknown. With the Kazaana, what comes in does not come out.

Miroku wants desperately to starve this second mouth of food, but as life has it, the only way to use it as a weapon is to feed it directly. So, with a set mouth and face, Miroku continues to provide sustenance for the Kazaana, knowing that protecting his friends is shortening his life with every feeding.

But, Miroku contemplates that morning, it's not as though he minds dying if his friends live on. He knows that one day, his second mouth will eat him whole, and Miroku needs his friends to live on after that happens. He can only hope that his second mouth will not take them with him.


	10. Hating Tchaikovsky

For: iyficchallenge Week 27 "music" (placed third!)

Word count: 298

Notes: For the record, I love the Nutcracker Ballet and I adore Tchaikovsky's music. This ficlet pretty much contradicts my love and adoration, and it probably doesn't show how much I love and adore classical music.

Summary: How the Nutcracker Ballet can ruin your night.

**Hating Tchaikovsky**

Partway through, Kagome knows that she shouldn't have agreed to Houjou's invitation to see the Nutcracker Ballet. But she couldn't help it anyway, since this might be the last time she would ever see Houjou, and going to the Ballet usually relaxes people, and Kagome certainly needs the relaxation.

But Kagome does not relax, and finds herself hating it, hating that a girl would throw her slipper at a monstrous rat and get pulled into another world for it and hating that the girl found a land full of happiness and delight. She thinks that in real life, the girl would probably not have encountered beautiful dancing sweets, for there is more in the world other than that, and the rat would probably not have been stunned by just a little slipper, for it takes more to bring down monsters. She should know after all.

The dancing of the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Valet during the Pas de Deux makes her shut her eyes, because she doesn't want to see it, the way the two dance as though they'll dance together forever. And although Kagome is ashamed to admit it, she feels jealous, since her own dance partner seems to like dancing with another.

But to her despair, closing her eyes isn't enough. She can hear the orchestra sounding out their longevity. The strings cry and the brass comforts. A reed instrument rides over the sounds and proclaims their endless love. The brass section comes forth again, pleading time to stop so that the two would never part. And then all the other sections join in, asking, together, how could anyone dare make these two stop dancing?

"It's so emotional, isn't it?" Houjou whispers when he sees tears on her cheeks.

And Kagome hates it even more.


	11. From the Bones

For: Reiku Toukijin

Pairing: Kanna Inupapa 10/15/05

Warning: crack, don't take this seriously

Words: 88

**From the Bones**

Kanna looked up at the towering skull and touched the nearest fang. Her hand barely covered the tip of it.

She took out the mirror and carefully aimed.

Something twinkled in the mirror and then a tall, pony-tailed man suddenly appeared before her and tripped on a bone.

"Shit!" he exclaimed, rubbing his foot. He looked up, noticed Kanna, and cringed. "I mean, um, hello little girl, what are you doing here at my gravesite?" He glanced down. "And why am I naked?"

Kanna said nothing, and moved.


	12. The Truth Behind it All

For: Qem, 10/15

Pairing: Sesshoumaru/Kaede

Warning: crack, nope, no seriousness at all.

Word count: 137

**The Truth Behind It All**

The Real Reason Why Sesshoumaru Isn't Married...

Sesshoumaru stared. Kaede stared back. Sesshoumaru stared some more.

"See something that intrigues you, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Kaede asked him.

...is Very Simple.

"What, have you never seen a naked woman before?" Kaede demanded, crossing her arms. She sat at the edge of the hot spring, and the water just barely covered her stomach.

Sesshoumaru didn't stop staring.

"...Oh," Kaede said. "Well, I've talked to the girls in the village about, you know, their bodies, and I suppose I could give you same talk if you'd like."

Sesshoumaru swallowed. "Words are not needed, miko-sama," he told her stiffly. He pivoted on his heel and went away. Quickly.

Kaede, concerned, shouted after him, "I have pictures too, if you have problems visualizing."

He stopped, and slowly turned around. "Pictures..." he repeated.

The End.


	13. Combing

For: Reiku Toukijin

Characters: Sesshoumaru + Sessmom

Word count: 305

**Combing**

I.

Sesshoumaru sits quietly on his bed as his mother combs his hair. He doesn't squirm, not even when she abandons the comb and starts stroking his hair with her claws. To his mind, there's no need to act like a child, even if she's treating him like one.

"My sweet little boy," his mother murmurs. "My sweet…"

His mother falls asleep beside him with an arm curled around his waist and another touching his hair. In the morning, he is alone and finds himself free to act as adult as he likes, because the one person who treats him otherwise is gone. It's a nice feeling for a while, until he's been alone for many months and realizes that his mother is unable to comb his hair ever again.

II.

She loves running her claws through her son's white hair, and tonight, she keeps smoothing out the strands even after she's unraveled the knots.

Eventually, when she can not comb anymore, they sleep, and she holds her son close to her, burying her face in his hair. She smiles when he doesn't try to squirm out of her arms like he'd done many times before. For now, he's letting her act like a mother, and him like a son.

She wants to whisper into his ear how happy she is because of this, but instead, she listens as he falls asleep.

When Sesshoumaru is completely unconscious, she unwraps her arms from him and quietly exits the room. She ignores her husband, who doesn't deserve her attention even if he did come out to see her off. Amazingly enough, his pregnant mistress comes too, clutching her husband's hand but still watching steadily.

She has nothing to say to them, and she's said all she can think of to her son already, so she leaves without a word.


	14. Confidant

For: Aiffe (written 11/17)

Pairing: Jaken/Kikyou

Warnings: crackish

Word Count: 324

**Confidant**

Jaken was having a Very Bad Day, for Sesshoumaru-sama had refused his hair combing session with him in favor of watching Rin spin around in circles on the grass. And Sesshoumaru-sama hadn't even noticed Jaken running into the forest, tears pouring out of his eyes.

However, Jaken's demise was rudely interrupted when he bumped into a human woman.

"Ouch!" Jaken cried, rubbing his head. "Get out of my way, human!"

And of course, it just had to be a human none other than the miko Kikyou. Damn his luck.

"I think _you _should be getting out of _my _way, youkai," Kikyou replied, coldly. "And what are you doing out here anyway?"

Jaken's lip quivered, and even though it really wasn't her business, he couldn't help but spill it all out. By the time he'd realized what he was doing, he found Kikyou nodding at his woes of love and providing some of her own. She was an unexpected confidant, but a good one nevertheless.

"I mean, when I say 'I want you to go down to hell with me,' am I _really_ saying 'I want you to die'?" Kikyou bemoaned.

Jaken thought about it and decided, "Yes."

"Exactly," Kikyou exclaimed. "I love him so much that when I die, I want him to be with me. How much more romantic can you get? But no, Inuyasha just hear the death part and goes running back to that other girl. Talk about _shallow_."

"My lovely Sesshoumaru-sama only sees my loyalty as a requirement of servitude, which it is, but he doesn't see that my loyalty also comes from love!" Jaken wailed.

"Why is the world so blind?"

"At least we found each other," Jaken comforted, patting her shoulder.

Kikyou placed a hand on his and gave a rare smile. They stared into the each other's eyes.

"At least we found each other," Kikyou echoed, moving closer and closer until they discovered other things as well.


	15. Facing

2/8/06

**For**: iyficcontest – "Inupapa"

**Characters: **Inupapa and young Sesshoumaru

**Notes**: 1. Although I have shamelessly stolen the names "Touga" and "Izayoi," anything else that the third anime Inuyasha movie claims is canon is completely ignored. No, I don't think Inupapa died in a fire fighting Takemaru. Not that it makes a difference with this fic. 2. This fic is a companion to my ficlet "Combing," which is chapter 13 in this collection. It takes place after it, but you don't need to read it to understand it.

**Summary**: Inupapa and Sesshoumaru take a stroll.

**Word Count**: 649

**Facing**

"Who is that woman, father?" Sesshoumaru asks him one day as they stroll away from the practice grounds. Other than the occasional grunt or attacking yell from the grounds behind them, the air around them is calm.

"Which woman are you talking about?" Touga questions back. Of course he knows precisely whom his son asks about, but it wouldn't hurt to drag it out of him. None of this implicit stuff.

Sesshoumaru forms a look that Touga is sure he had gotten from his mother. There is that familiar drawing of the eyebrows, the slight wrinkle in between, the narrowed, slit-like eyes, and that mouth! Such an unhappy mouth, like a razor blade hanging just above the skin on the neck. Touga can tell that his son is trying to lighten the look, to maintain the cool, bland facial expression he had taken to adopting the past few months. Apparently, Sesshoumaru belongs to the school of thought dictating that the fearsome youkai must not show emotion. Or perhaps he thinks he looks more adult. Whichever it is, that particular look on his face somewhat amuses Touga.

"You know perfectly well which woman I speak of, father," Sesshoumaru tells him, with the barest hint of a snarl in his voice. His eyebrows slowly separate. Touga is idly impressed by his self-control. "That woman, that human, who is pregnant with your child.

"Now why do you assume it is my child?" Touga wonders, smiling innocently.

That look resurfaces, just a little, on his son's face.

"She smells like you, all the time," Sesshoumaru snaps in exasperation. It occurs to Touga that his son might be embarrassed about the subject.

Taking pity, he relents with an answer. "Well, in any case, she does happen to be carrying my child, your half-sibling."

Sesshoumaru stops walking, and Touga politely pauses mid-stride for him. His son's face has cooled away from the Look into a blank slate.

"Her name is Izayoi, and I think it will be a son," Touga muses.

"Is she the reason Mother left three months ago?" Sesshoumaru inquires, voice eerily even.

Touga frowns. Sesshoumaru's mother is not a topic he enjoyed entertaining, even in the privacy of his thoughts, much less with his son. "Your mother does what she likes," Touga answers, waving a dismissive hand. "Who am I to attempt at guessing her motives?"

Sesshoumaru brushes a piece of dust off his shoulder, mouth set in a soft line. He resumes walking.

"Don't be so sullen," Touga says. He wonders if patting his son's shoulders would be appropriate, but decides against it. His mother still combed his hair up to the time she left, but then again, Sesshoumaru was practicing with the guards, and beating them as well. "She's taken her little journeys before. Don't you remember? Once she was gone for half a year."

It is only the slit eyes this time that Sesshoumaru gives to him. He peers at Touga from the side. "You are correct, father," he remarks.

"Thank you," Touga accepts graciously.

"You are ill-prepared to predict Mother's actions, and you have always been this way," his son continues. "And you are not good at it, no matter what you think."

Touga quirks up an eyebrow. This is a new development. If it were anyone but his son, Touga would have slashed his face for insolence. But as it is, he only says, "Oh?"

Sesshoumaru withdraws his gaze, and Touga watches his eyes flicker up toward the impending clouds.

"She is not coming back," he states simply. "She will never return to you."

Touga has no answer to this. He observes Sesshoumaru's face and for a second, he thinks he sees a sliver of her dash across its surface and slip off into the air.

"I am sorry about that," Touga replies, trying to glimpse it again, and despite the past, he means what he says.


	16. Red Fish

For: iyficcontest 41 "memory." Second place!

Genre: Drama

Characters: Kagome, Mama Higurashi, Inuyasha indirect

Squicks: Blood, a bunch of it

Word count: 246

Summary: Another recollection slides away.

**Red Fish**

Wait, wait a second. Stop!

I almost had it. I almost grasped that little slippery fish of memory in my hands. Figurative hands of course.

It had red in it. That's all I salvaged from my stream of consciousness. Red all over. Red in front of my nose, red clenched in my hands, red wrapped around by my legs. And red soaring above tree tops and streams and…

Oh my, it appears the fish has returned.

"Mama!" I shout, bouncing in my bed. "I just remembered something!"

Mama smiles as she sips tea. "That's wonderful, dear," she comments.

"There were so many things!" I continue. Mama moves my tea cup away. "And…and!" More things are coming back to me. "There was a boy wearing red! So much red. He had white hair and…"

"Cute, fuzzy ears?" Mama suggests.

My eyes widen. "Uh huh," I burble. "Ears…"

I can see those ears now, but they're matted, not fuzzy, with blood splattered all over and dripping onto the white hair and it's red blood dotting the red clothes and turning into scarlet, scarlet over red. But if doesn't matter because he's bleeding and soiling those beautiful ears.

"Kagome?"

I glance up and touch my wet cheeks, frowning.

"Don't tax yourself," Mama soothes, rubbing my back. "You know you haven't been the same since that accident at the well."

I nod, but the fish is swimming away again, and I put my head down and cry a little more.


	17. Frequently Asked Questions

For: iyficcontest, week 47, "Little White Lies"

Written on 4-37-06

Genre: angst

Characters: Mama Higurashi and Kagome

Squicks: implied

Word count: 245

Summary: She was always honest to her daughter. Always.

**Frequently Asked Questions**

Mama, Why am I here?

Because Mama wanted a daughter so very much. She wished and wished and wished, until finally, you came, and you made Mama so happy.

Mama, why do I have to use the toilet instead of my diapers?

Because toilets are the first step to growing up.

Really?

Oh, yes.

Mama, what's that stone that Ji-chan always tries to sell?

It is called the Shikon-No-Tama, and there's a nice story behind it.

Can you tell it to me?

Well, once upon a time…

Mama, why did you buy all this ramen?

What will Inuyasha eat if I'm not here?

But Mama, I don't think all this ramen can be healthy!

Well, Inuyasha is very special, isn't he? Especially to you?

I'm going to school!

Mama—

Why are there blood stains on your uniform?

I tripped as I was getting out of the well.

How can you get a bloody nose just from a fall?

Well, I did.

Where was Inuyasha when this happened?

He's…

Yes?

He's not here. He's never going to come here again!

What? Wait—

Mama, why do people lose?

Because they'll win the next time around.

I don't believe you.

Mama… why am I still alive?

Because you deserve to live.

You're a liar, Mama. I don't deserve anything. I don't even deserve the truth from you. I know that much.

I'm not the one lying to you, dear.

Sure, because you would never lie to me. Right.


	18. In A Teacup

For: iyficcontest week 54 "darkfic" – 2nd place!

Written – 6-16-06

Characters: Kagome

Genre: Angst/Drama

Rating: PG

Word count: 473

Summary: There's a trick to drinking tea.

**In a Teacup**

It starts with a cup of steaming, wispy tea and an upbeat attitude, thinking uplifting thoughts, such as: this is not the end of the world. You _can _get through this. You _will _succeed without hims and hers and the little ones and that shiny, despairingly powerful stone. Maybe it's better that it turned out this way, because now you actually stand a chance at getting into high school.

After that comes a period of, shall we call it, inner turmoil, in which your brain knows that there's life afterward, but your heart still firmly roots itself in the past, claiming to be unable to let go, or perhaps just plain unwilling.

Kagome, personally, can't tell if it's really her heart that clings to him (them, then, that), because it's not _him_ per se, but the memory of him. It's an image that will forever remain in her tertiary memory, following her where she goes. So maybe it's her brain that despairs the most, and her heart that wants to move on.

Beyond these two states of minds, however, Kagome has no idea. She reaches the point where tea does nothing but warm her face, but it doesn't maintain the attitude, nor does it keep her mind on the positive road.

But, Kagome is pretty sure that she's found the trick.

Which is to say, she's figured out that concentrating on the rim of her teacup is much more fulfilling than wondering about the health of people living centuries ago. It's a lovely cup, actually. She didn't know Mama had a set like this.

Maybe, Kagome ponders, she'll become a tea set expert. She'll travel the world to tea set conventions and tell people, no, I'm sorry ma'am. Your tea pot is a fake antique and only worth about ten American dollars. Question your antique dealer more carefully next time. Next? Oh my, is this a spider decoration? How perfectly rare! Did you know? There's a legend behind this design in which a girl fell down a well and…

But a small, black spider, unnoticed and outside Kagome's daydreams, crawls up her wrist. She starts at the multitude of legs pattering on her skin, and jerks her arm, sending the unfortunate spider into her tea cup.

It's a fascinating sight to Kagome, watching the spider tumble into the murky, greenish liquid. It hits the cup bottom and becomes almost indistinguishable from the tea leaves, or it would have been if it didn't flail its legs around. Somehow, it moves enough to jerk itself into the correct position, but it slips against the wet surface of the cup.

When the spider stops moving, Kagome pushes the cup away from her and leaves it for somebody else to put away. Reaching up to wipe her eyes, she decides that she'll never drink tea again.


	19. Anonymous

For: iyficcontest "rarely seen character"

Written: 11/26/06

Characters: Inupapa

Genre: General, Humor

Rating: PG/K+

Word count: 279

Summary: It's tough being dead, beautiful, and nameless.

**Anonymous**

His name was…

Well, apparently it didn't really matter what his name was. People didn't seem to care. And by "people" he meant anyone who mentioned his existence. They always referred to him by his title, which was all very well and respectful until he realized that they did so because they simply didn't know his name. This in itself didn't bother him that much, but this mindset changed when he discovered that his own sons had no knowledge of his name.

"Damn!" he roared, his voice scattering grave bones into the air. He liked that modern phrase very much, incidentally.

But back to the point! How is it that his own sons never mentioned him by name? His own two, beautiful little boys mothered by two beautiful women… Surely one of the women would have informed his sons of their father's name. What disrespect! What ingrates! He'd done right by them, hadn't he? Even though he died, he'd left behind means of survival for them. Were swords not considered symbols of love and affection anymore? Had the times changed in the centuries?

"It's so hard being dead," he bemoaned. "And beautiful," he added, as an afterthought.

Sulking, the Inu no Taisho (for even the author didn't know his name) perched on a pile of bones and heaved a sigh.

"For your grievous disrespect, I hope you boys have as much trouble with your women as I did!" he cursed, shaking his fist to the air.

Perhaps he was going senile in death, but no matter. The Inu no Taisho found that his curses had more weight than one would expect, and he settled back to watch it enfold.


	20. Suspension

(Originally written on 1/2/07)

This fic was written for Rashiea on LJ as a holiday gift.

Characters: Rin

Word count: 271

Summary: Rin is weightless once again.

Note: spoiler for chapter 467

**Suspension**

Rin could count the number of times she had felt weightless, suspended in the air and phantomlike, on one hand. All those times had been terrifying experiences, and Rin didn't like dwelling on them very much. But she remembered that during those times, there had always been a slight possibility of breaking out of her thinness and landing back on the ground. The thought of this was scary, rather than reassuring, for with the chance of survival came also that of failure.

But despite her fears, Rin had survived each period of weightlessness, because someone had saved her and brought her back to earth.

Thus, when the lady-youkai, who introduced herself as Sesshoumaru-sama's mother, conjured a hellhound, Rin didn't feel any particular fear. Her heart beat uncontrollably and her breath caught in her throat, but as she clutched Kohaku's waist while the hellhound lifted them into the air, Rin only felt an adrenaline rush. There was no fear or glee, only pure excitement.

Eventually, however, not even adrenaline could keep Rin's eyes open. Within the hellhound's matter-less body were heaviness and darkness. The darkness, in particular, terrified Rin, for it contained whispers and flicks of deadly possibilities. In this darkness, Rin saw nothing, and this nothing threatened to consume her body.

Even more frightening, Rin realized that because of the darkness, she wouldn't be able to see Sesshoumaru-sama when (there was no if, always when) he came to bring her back to the light.

As she floated in the hellhound, with Kohaku's arm locked around her body, Rin was happy that she lost consciousness. She preferred the darkness of her eyelids.


End file.
